Curator's Choice
Like history? Love museums? From ancient relics to modern marvels, each episode of this show features a new museum and a sampling of some amazing artifacts housed there. What makes Curator's Choice truly special is our exclusive interviews with the unsung heroes of museums—the curators themselves. These guardians of history will share insights, anecdotes, and the often untold stories that breathe life into the artifacts they protect.
Through this podcast, our mission is to dispel the notion of museums as static, old, and dull spaces. Instead, we aim to reveal them as vibrant repositories brimming with mystery and wonder, one artifact at a time.
New episodes are released every two weeks, and you can tune in anywhere you get your podcasts!
Curator's Choice
Episode 64: Reykjavík Maritime Museum
Join us as we journey to the Reykjavik Maritime Museum, a relatively young museum founded in 2004, yet one that preserves the centuries-old lifeline of Icelandic fishing. Discover how this unique museum showcases Iceland's deep connection to the sea and the essential role of fishing in the country’s survival and prosperity.
🐟 From Cod to Commerce 💰
Explore the historical significance of cod, Iceland’s economic mainstay, and learn how the museum’s immersive exhibits depict the fascinating “from sea to plate” journey. Walking through spaces designed to mirror a fish processing plant, visitors experience the scale and importance of Iceland’s fishing industry.
🧴 Nothing Wasted: A Creative Approach to Fish Byproducts
Our guide Ingiborg introduces the “Nothing Wasted” exhibit, celebrating Iceland’s resourcefulness by repurposing fish byproducts. Discover how fish skin is used in medical plasters for burn victims, and fish collagen has found its way into everything from leather products to health supplements.
🦈 Fermented Shark & The Cod Wars ⚔️
Uncover the story behind Iceland’s infamous fermented shark, hákarl, once essential to Iceland’s diet and now a delicacy with a distinct place in Icelandic culture. Learn about the Cod Wars, a series of intense confrontations with the UK, that underscored Iceland’s fierce independence and commitment to its fishing territory.
🦺 Safety at Sea: A Matter of Life and Legacy 🌊
The museum also highlights the vital role of safety in Icelandic fishing culture, sharing stories of those who risked—and often lost—their lives at sea. From a unique exhibit on fishermen’s safety to the revolutionary strides that made Iceland's waters safer, the museum emphasizes the courage and resilience of Iceland’s seafaring communities. Whether you’re intrigued by maritime history, fascinated by Iceland’s inventive spirit, or curious about the cultural traditions shaped by the ocean, this episode offers a rich dive into Iceland’s maritime legacy.
🔗 Episode Links
Reykjavík Maritime Museum:
https://borgarsogusafn.is/en/reykjavik-maritime-museum
Bjarnarhöfn Shark Museum in Snæfellsnes:
https://www.icelandtravel.is/attractions/shark-museum/
Curator's Choice - A podcast for history nerds and museum lovers
Hi, I'm Ayla Sparks and this is Curator's Choice, a podcast for history nerds and museum lovers. From ancient relics to modern marvels, each episode of this show features a new museum and a curator's choice of some amazing artifacts housed there. These guardians of history will share insights, anecdotes and the often untold stories that breathe life into the artifacts they protect. Thanks for tuning in to this Mighty Oak Media production and the often untold stories that breathe life into the artifacts they protect. Thanks for tuning in to this Mighty Oak Media production and enjoy the show. Hello and welcome to another episode of Curator's Choice.
Speaker 1:Today on the show, we explore a relatively young museum, established in 2004, yet one that is deeply rooted in Iceland's fishing heritage. At the Reykjavik Maritime Museum, we explore Iceland's relationship with the sea, focusing on fishing as a lifeline for the nation, from the historical significance of cod to the immersive exhibit designed to mimic a fish processing plant. Our guide, inge Björk, shares with us their exhibit Nothing Wasted, showcasing Iceland's inventive uses for fish byproducts, from fish leather to medical plasters made from fish skin. This episode also dives into Iceland's iconic fermented shark, the cultural legacy of the cod wars and the emphasis of safety at sea, a matter of life and death for Icelanders throughout history. This episode had all manner of technical difficulties, and I just wanted to say an extra special thank you to Inge Björk for all her patience. So without further ado, let's jump right in. So why don't you tell us a little bit about the museum?
Speaker 2:Yes, so we're talking about the Reykjavik City Maritime Museum, which is in Reykjavik, which is the only city in Iceland, actually, and it's quite a young museum because it was only founded in 2004. And it was founded because people who worked for the city thought, since maritime history is a huge part of our history, obviously being an island and Reykjavik being sort of the biggest fishing port in the country, and it didn't have a maritime museum, so some people who were interested in the history at the city sort of advocated for the museum to be established. Yes, so it was founded in 2004 and opened its first exhibition in 2005. And, unlike a lot of maritime museums that at least I have visited in Europe, ours is focused on the fishing history really, because we don't really have so much maritime history in the way that we had a lot of ships and sailing culture as such. So our museum focuses on how the fishing industry is basically what we are founded on.
Speaker 2:We couldn't have survived on this island if it wasn't for the fish. So in 2018, we opened up our permanent exhibition after renovations, and that's our main exhibition, obviously, and there we tried to tell the story through the eyes of the fish. In a way, it's the cod, which is the main fish that we export and that we have gained our revenue during the years from. So you learn about the history of our fishing from the cod.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was looking as well and it looks like roughly, at least in the past few years. About 10% of Iceland's total GDP comes from seafood.
Speaker 2:Like the sea industry, yes, and it used to be much more, but because of tourism has sort of taken over. But fishing is basically what we is. The only way we could gain revenue into the country was to sell or export fish. So that's what we sort of build on and that's why it's so important and it used to be like every family had like a fisherman in their family, but now you know it's fewer men can catch more fish, so it's less and less people working actually doing it. So it's important for us to be able to show the younger generation plus, obviously, people who visit us from abroad where we came from, in a way, what we are founded on.
Speaker 1:So when people come to the Maritime Museum, it looks like you guys have a lot of different immersive ways and, like you said, it's from the viewpoint of the fish. So what was the complication in trying to create that kind of environment?
Speaker 2:Well, so we got design office from Amsterdam to do the design exhibition and when they came they sort of you know, because it's not part of their culture they were trying to sort of see where they could take this. And one of the things that we did was we took the design team to one of the biggest fish factories in Reykjavik just for a visit to see what it was all about, and they sort of transferred that into the exhibition. So when you walk into the exhibition you're almost like you're in a fish processing plant. You're almost like you're in a fish processing plant. The floors are painted sort of blue and very shiny, because in the fish processing plants you have water running on the floor all the time to keep it clean, and also the location of the museum is in an actual old fish processing plant just by the harbour. So it's kind of a really nice historical connection you can make. There.
Speaker 2:The exhibition sort of takes you. You start with the life of the fish, where it comes from and the environment it lives in, and then it takes you into. You know how you find, with navigation, how you find the best fishing spots, because that's a special science, to sort of know where the fish are and then through that, you go through like the ways you catch a fish you know different ways to catch a fish and we also talk about safety at sea because that's something that's been really important, like in 2008 was the first year that nobody died at sea because that's where we would lose our men, like other countries would lose their men in war, but we would lose them on our boats, because everyone went fishing and when they were fishing you know before, just in the small rowing boats then obviously you went out and there's good weather and then the bad weather hits and you go down. That was many persons' story.
Speaker 1:That was one thing that I noticed that seemed really interesting about your museum was you have an entire exhibit on the safety, and I have not seen that in any other maritime museum that I've ever been to. Yeah, it is.
Speaker 2:And it's such a big because everyone at least sort of maybe say my, my parents or my grandparents generation had someone they lost at sea, because you know that people would die. So it's really important for us to show the emphasis we have put on safety. All people who work at sea go to, like it's called, the fisherman's safety school. So you do like a program for a few weeks or a few days that you go through all the safety procedures that you need to know so that if something happens you know what to do and what equipment to use and what clothes to put on and such and yeah. So the exhibition just takes you through sort of all the stages of what the fish goes through. So the idea is from the seed to your plate. That's basically the idea.
Speaker 2:And so the exhibition takes you from where the fish starts and at the end on your plate. So it goes through also like how you process it, and then at the end of the exhibition you have this big table where you can make your own recipes with fish which is quite cool and email it to you, and we also have a wall, which I think is really interesting also. It's called Nothing Wasted, and then we talk about how new initiatives of using different things from the fish to make other things like people make fish leather, they use the cod oil for supplements, and the newest invention now that's getting quite big and is one of the biggest, or at least money-making biggest companies in Iceland is called Kerasis, and they make plasters or band-aaids or you would call it plasters for burn victims from the fish skin. So you know that's a cool thing where you can try to use what was thrown away to make something amazing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, helping a lot of people. Yeah, just for your plate. Yes, exactly, also for your burns.
Speaker 2:And they do all different. You know they do all these. I don't know if it's popular in the States, but here everyone wants to do collagen, this and collagen that you know. And they put fish collagen in soda drinks and people drink it, I think.
Speaker 1:I don't know if it's currently in the ones that I'm drinking, but I might rethink that next week.
Speaker 2:Well, you can try it when you come here.
Speaker 1:It's called collab and it just becomes so popular really interesting and I know I I was also reading about some more icelandic fish cuisine and there's fermented shark. Is that actually? Is that like a big popular item or is it kind of one of those no relics of a past time that people like to come to Iceland and try to tell you that you have?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it is. I mean I didn't grow up eating it, maybe some people did, but I mean it's an acquired taste and it's not bad, I don't. I mean it's like I mean it smells really strong but it tastes a little bit like you know, when you have really strong cheese it's that kind of you know. So the taste is not bad but it's you can't eat it as a food. It's because it's like like a block of cheese is not food. You need to take it with something.
Speaker 1:So it's more like a special occasion, one-on-one bite, and it kind of makes sense, too, that that would be something that you know. Earlier in history would have been more popular the idea of preserving the food that you have. Well, you would eat it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I guess you would eat it out of necessity. Like a lot of things, it's like it's one of those meats that you can't just eat it fresh. You need to have it fermented because it has I don't know if you know shark, but shark doesn't urinate. In a way, it sort of goes back into its system and it's, in a way, poisonous. So you need to let it ferment for it to become non-poisonous. Oh wow, and therefore it's so strongly strong smell, because it's the ammonia smell that you smell.
Speaker 1:I wanted to go a little bit more into detail about the history of this fermented shark, or the Icelandic term, haukart, haukart, hauukart or something like that. I watched quite a few videos and, to be honest, the Icelandic accent and language is incredible and incredibly difficult, so I'm sure I butchered it. However, fermented shark. But first things first, let's talk about the incredible Greenland shark. I couldn't pass on an amazing opportunity to share some wildlife. So Greenland sharks hold the record for the longest lifespan among vertebrates. Studies using radiocarbon dating on the eye lens proteins have shown that these sharks can live for over 400 years. Some estimates suggest they could even live longer. So this extraordinary longevity is attributed to their incredibly slow metabolic rate, which makes sense. It's a necessary adaptation to survive in those freezing depths of the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans it calls home. So these Greenland sharks are growing at an estimated rate of about one centimeter per year, so this means by the time they reach full size, they're often already centuries old. Scientists also speculate that Greenland sharks may be the slowest swimming sharks of all, moving at an average speed of only about 0.34 meters per second. But that's not all. As well as being the oldest, slowest and the coldest, greenland sharks are also often partially or completely blind due to a parasitic copepod that attaches itself to their eyes. Even though their sight is often gone, they have such a strong sense of smell they're able to navigate the dark and icy cold waters. They can locate their food sources just fine, which consists mostly of fish, squid and even the occasional carrion, like polar bears or reindeer, that have fallen into the ocean. Now, unlike most shark species, the flesh of the Greenland shark is toxic if consumed fresh, just like Ingeberg was saying. This toxicity comes from high levels of trimethylamine oxide. There's a lot of pronunciations in this episode. I'm trying my best. Or TMAO, and this helps stabilize proteins and maintains the osmotic balance in the shark's body despite this freezing cold water. But in people TMAO breaks down into a compound that causes severe nausea, intestinal issues and even, in very extreme cases, has caused neurological effects.
Speaker 1:But Icelanders, who inhabited a barren volcanic island with limited access to fertile land, they couldn't afford to waste any protein sources. So to render the shark edible, early Icelanders developed a unique fermentation and drying process. Traditionally, the shark meat would be cleaned, cut into large chunks and buried in gravelly sand pits along the coast and allowed to naturally ferment over 6 to 12 weeks. After this stage, the shark meat was retrieved, cut into smaller strips and then hung out to dry in open sheds for several more months. The process removes the toxic TMAO, but it still has that very strong odor and taste. So this method of making fermented shark was a reliable food source during those long winters when agriculture was impossible. Food was scarce, but the fermentation process was not exclusive to shark. Icelanders also preserved other foods like lamb and fish, to make sure that they had nutritious diet throughout their cold winters.
Speaker 1:Fermented shark then became a symbol of survival in one of Europe's most inhospitable environments. So now looking at the more cultural and symbolic significance, beyond its obvious utility, eating fermented shark became a reminder of the ancestors' resilience. The food is often associated with the Norse god Thor and Iceland's pagan heritage, which was eventually blended into Christian customs. Fermented shark was commonly eaten during the annual Thorabllot festival, which is a midwinter feast. This festival was banned when Iceland was converted to Christianity in 1000 AD, but it resurfaced in the 19th century as Icelandic nationalism grew and Icelanders sought to reclaim their identity and these incredible traditions. So during this festival, locals gather to eat traditional Icelandic foods that have survived through the centuries, many of which were preserved through fermentation, drying or smoking. So this fermented shark became a centerpiece for these feasts, along with dishes like sheep's head dried fish and blood pudding, head dried fish and blood pudding.
Speaker 1:However, thanks to modern refrigeration and more varied food imports, the 20th century saw fermented shark lose its role as an everyday source as Iceland became more industrialized and connected to global trade. Fresh foods are now more accessible year-round and fermented shark faded from regular diets. However, it has remained a cultural practice and has the reputation of being a dare food for tourists looking to experience Iceland's culinary history. All right, let's get back to the interview, when I'm wondering, too, if the reason why they even I mean obviously you said that when you're eating shark they kind of have to eat what they could get back in the day. Yeah, because it's. Is it really hard to have other kinds of livestock and things on iceland? Is it a harsh climate?
Speaker 2:I know that you have a lot of tomatoes yeah, that's because I mean that's a modern thing, because we can build greenhouses and use the you know, know, the hot spring water to heat them. But obviously in the olden days you didn't have greenhouses. Iceland is, I mean, it's very far north, our summers are very short and we hardly had any trees. They're trying to grow them now. So you need a lot of land to have little livestock, if you get what I mean, because livestock can be outside maybe three months of the year. The rest of the year has to be inside and you have to have hay for it. So sheep is our main livestock because they are very hardy and they need less feeding than, obviously, beef or pigs.
Speaker 1:So it makes a lot of sense. The beef or pigs, so it makes a lot of sense. Yeah, it makes a lot of sense that when you can't have a lot of different livestock, it's hard to have you know a lot of crops, unless you're, in modern times, doing it with greenhouses. So it makes sense that the ocean would be the main support, the fisheries would be the main support system for a lot of.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and something that you could always go to. I mean, you could always try and go and catch something if you didn't have anything. You know what I mean, if you have access to a boat and you could always go and try and get something if you had nothing.
Speaker 1:Well, and now might be a good transition into talking about fighting over those extremely important fisheries.
Speaker 2:So the term cod wars is something that's used for the conflict between Iceland and some other European countries, mainly the UK, over fishing territories, because we wanted to expand our territory but obviously the UK didn't want to stop catching their fish here and the conflict was from, I think, about 52 to 76, something like that. So the coastal guard, icelandic coastal guard, would go and try to chase the UK trawlers away and they would just, you know, say the F word and keep on fishing Because, I don't know, it matters but we don't have an army in Iceland, so we wouldn't have any, we wouldn't have weapons in a way. So they invented this thing called the trawler cutter or troll cutter. It looks like uh, I'm just thinking how to describe it in english it looks a little bit like a very heavy, long hook but with like four hooks and inside the hooks there's like sharpness, so that what they would do the Icelandic coastal guard would put that in the sea and sail really fast and just cut the wires of the trawler so they would lose all their fish.
Speaker 2:This is really expensive, you know. The trawlers would have to go back to England be fixed and they lost their trawls and the fish. So you know. At least it helped us to sort of win the cod war in the way that we in the end extended our fishing territory to 200 miles, which is quite a lot for a small country, our livelihood, so it was like we don't have anything else. We need this. But I was also doing a little bit of research again before this podcast and apparently it also had something to do with that Iceland threatened to leave NATO if they wouldn't accept the big fishing territory 200 miles. So I think it helped, but I think there must have been a little more things to help us as well.
Speaker 1:And obviously it was that important to the Icelandic people that they were willing to threaten coming out of NATO to make sure that their people can actually fish.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1:To go into a little bit more detail about the Cod Wars. So the Cod Wars were a series of confrontations between Iceland and the UK, spanning from the 1950s to the 1970s, over those fishing rights. These wars weren't traditional battles but rather intense diplomatic and naval standoffs that shaped Iceland's economic independence and fishing rights. There's a series of what's considered three cod wars. So the first cod war occurred between 1958 and 1961. So in 1958, iceland unilaterally extended its fishing zone from 4 to 12 nautical miles, as we've already mentioned, aiming to protect its vital fishing industry from foreign fleets. The UK, who was heavily reliant on these waters for fishing, sent naval ships to protect its trawlers, and the standoff saw Icelandic Coast Guard ships cutting British nets. But it ended in 1961 with no formal resolution, although British ships began to limit their activity. Now the second Cod War was between 72 and 73. Iceland pushed its fishing limits farther in 1972, declaring a 50 nautical mile exclusion zone. Again, the UK resisted and the two nations entered into another period of tense encounters. Icelandic patrol boats cut British fishing nets, leading to dangerous confrontations, and the war ended with Britain agreeing to reduce its fishing in the expanded Icelandic zone. So the Cod Wars saw numerous near collisions and there were some actual crashes between Icelandic Coast Guard vessels and British frigates and trawlers. One of the most famous incidents occurred in 73, when the Icelandic Coast Guard vessel named after Thor collided with the British frigate HMS Skyla. Despite being vastly outgunned and outnumbered, icelandic crews remained undeterred, engaging in a high-stakes game of chicken with British ships to assert their territorial claims. The bravery of Iceland's much smaller, under-equipped coast guard against the British Royal Navy created a kind of David versus Goliath narrative that captured international attention. Then, finally, you had the Third Cod War between 75 and 76. And this is when tensions reached a new level, when Iceland threatened to close NATO's air base. This strategic base was critical during the Cold War as it allowed NATO to monitor Soviet submarine activity in the North Atlantic. Iceland's threat put significant pressure on the UK, as other NATO allies, particularly the United States, encouraged Britain to negotiate to preserve Iceland's support. After years of confrontation, the conflicts finally ended in 76 with a settlement known as the Cod Peace, in which the UK recognized Iceland's 200-mile fishing limit.
Speaker 1:Iceland's diplomatic maneuvers were widely regarded as a triumph. Limit Iceland's diplomatic maneuvers were widely regarded as a triumph, as they had effectively used international pressure, small-scale naval tactics and unwavering determination to secure their economic interests. By challenging a superpower on fishing rights and winning Iceland set a precedent for countries to assert control over their own natural resources. The Icelandic Coast Guard crews became national heroes. They were often young and lacked sophisticated military training, yet they showed immense courage by taking on British warships. In Iceland, the Cod Wars are viewed as a national achievement, with the Coast Guard as a symbol of resilience and independence. So, speaking of how Icelanders relate to these incredibly brave Icelandic Coast Guardsmen, ingebjörg has one more artifact to share with us. So let's get back to the interview.
Speaker 2:I went to the exhibition to think you know what's like, what matters, in a way, to how I relate, at least. And so there's a nice big rowboat there on the exhibition which was built in 1907. And they call it in English because I was looking how it's called the Twinkle Belt Boat, which is something that's a Scandinavian way of building boats and is now actually a part of UNESCO's intangible heritage list. It was basically the reason why Iceland was settled. I think because the Viking ships, they were built in that way, and because they were built that way, they could go far, and because it's far to go all the way from Norway or Shetland or Ireland or wherever they came from, that kind of boat is the reason for why I'm here, in a way, and then during the centuries it kept my people alive by taking them out to sea and catching the fish.
Speaker 2:So I think that's a huge, significant part of our history is a good boat and the boat is it a rowboat? It's a rowboat for four people to row, but they always have a sail also. So you just go between, depending on the weather. So you need both to go fast out and then come back in, depending on the wind?
Speaker 1:Do most people in Iceland have these kinds of small rowboats?
Speaker 2:Not anymore, unfortunately, and for us as museum people it's very sad because they're such a big part of our history. But once the engine boats came in, people stopped using these and they sort of just rotted away or were even burned in the New Year's we have always a big bonfire on New Year's. They would be burned on the bonfire. So we actually don't have that many original boats like that left, which is quite sad, so we want to preserve ours.
Speaker 1:When people do come to the museum, what kind of events and things can they expect to see and do when they come for a visit?
Speaker 2:So we participate in all the sort of the big events that the city does, you know, like cultural night, and we have children cultural days, and we have museum night, which is very popular, always in February, and then we have a day in early June that's called the seaman's day, which you, it's like you celebrate the fishermen of Iceland, and that's always a big event in the museum. And we have, like, the safety school of fishermen I told you about. They do their practices and let you try some of those safety equipment for instance. Oh, that's awesome. So that's that's the really fun event to participate in and you can see the display outside on the street, all the weird creatures that come out of the sea. And then, obviously, we always have great programs for the school kids of Reykjavik and surrounding areas, which is always very popular.
Speaker 2:There's one part of the exhibition it's about stories from people out on the sea. So you listen to stories and people tell you about things that happened out on the sea. And there's somebody talks about how it's not very sanitary to relieve yourself in the boats. You know telling story of that. And someone tells a story about how they missed their wives because they're so long away, things like that. So I like that when people tell personal stories of their life out at sea or in other harbors. When there was no communication, you couldn't hardly write letters because you don't know where you are, you don't know when you come back.
Speaker 2:It's just a really lovely museum by the harbor. The location is also really great. We have the view over the old harbor, which is really nice, and you can see the Harpa musical at the other end, which is sort of one of our landmarks here in Reykjavik, and we also have a temporary exhibition hall which at the moment, there's a sort of a video artwork of microfilming of water. That's very nice Something that you wouldn't see with your bare eyes.
Speaker 2:But you know all the different formations in the water that you don't see unless it's under a microscope. So that's really nice.
Speaker 1:That's awesome. Well, thank you so much for meeting with me and telling me about this museum and sharing some passion of the Icelandic fisheries.
Speaker 2:Yeah, thank you for having me.
Speaker 1:It's lovely. Thank you so much for tuning in and supporting Curator's Choice, a Mighty Oak Media production. If you enjoyed the show, please consider subscribing and rating the show on Apple Podcasts, spotify, youtube or wherever you get your podcasts. If you love a museum and would like to hear it featured in an episode, shoot me a message at curatorschoicepodcast at gmailcom. I'll do my best to reach out and see if I can get them to be on the show. You can also view articles, artifacts and more by following us on Facebook and Instagram. Thanks for listening to Curator's Choice, a podcast for history nerds and museum lovers.